The latest achievements, challenges and the progress of the EU project “Support to Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights” attained in the last six months were discussed on December 13, at the fourth meeting of the Steering Committee. The event was attended by representatives of the co-beneficiary authorities, the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova, the project implementation consortium, as well the team of experts responsible for the project.
“This period has brought clarity to the goal of the project, namely to support the beneficiary institutions in the field of intellectual property rights. I am pleased with the progress of the Geographical Indication (GI) system, where a solution to the existing gaps is becoming more and clearer. The weak link is the certification: we have products registered under the GI symbol, but which cannot enter the market because they do not have certificate of conformity. Respectively, pressure is focused on public institutions until the private sector is ready to assume the certification procedure”, declared the Director of the AGEPI, Lilia Bolocan, as the main beneficiary of the project.
“Thank you very much to the beneficiaries and the EU Delegation for the support that has allowed us to reach this stage of the project. Now we have a clear picture of the project and I am convinced that we will have the results we expect and will be able to address the real needs of the beneficiary. Our technical support project will continue to act as a right hand for AGEPI in order to improve its activities in the field of intellectual property”, mentioned Andreea Comsa, Project Director from the leader of the consortium, Archidata Srl.
During the meeting, the Team Leader of the project, Maximilian Foediner, together with the Deputy Team Leader, Kenny Wright and the expert Yuriy Kapitsa presented a summary of the activities carried out in the period May to December and the priorities for the next six months.
Thus, in order to improve the enforcement of the Intellectual Property (IP) rights in Moldova, a series of activities have been implemented with success in the reporting period. “What we achieved in this period, starting with the analysis of the IP environment in Moldova is quite impressive and I am sure that the project will have better results in the next year”, said Maximilian Foediner.
Also, according to Yuriy Kapitsa, intensive work was done in the field of GI, namely the development of the gap analysis, identification of traditional products, training and support for authorities, regional seminars for local producers and preparation of recommendations to improve the GI system in our country.
Project priorities for the next quarter include delivering the program of cultural exchange; preparation of the information platform in the IPR field and strengthening the GI system in Moldova.
The next Steering Meeting is planned to be held on March 2018.
The technical assistance project EuropeAid/137467/DH/SER/MD "Support to enforcement of the intellectual property rights” launched in November 2016, with a two-year implementation period, one of the basic objectives being the improvevement of the geographical indication system in the Republic of Moldova.
For more information please contact Ana-Maria Veverita, Expert on media and communication, veverita@ipr-moldova.net.
